My Kind of Love
by T1TTYSPR1NKL3S
Summary: He never meant for it to end up this way. When he brought her back to the palace, he meant to just be her friend, her teacher... Why did nothing ever work out his way...? Apprenticeshipping and slight Vaseshipping. :)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This was one of the stories that placed last in my poll for a story, and it was just suppose to be a one-shot, but I love this pair way too much. I had to make it full story. X]**

**Rated for later chapters.**

**I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Mahad watched the little brunette on his bed eat furiously; and stuffing down any food he had given her, and even some of his own food. He suspected she was from a village outside of Egypt, since she was without her family or a guardian when he found her asleep in a small pot in the city, snuggling a piece of molding bread. Out of the sincere kindness of his heart, he brought her back to his chambers in the palace, smuggling her past the guards and others. The young prince was really the only on to notice Mahad's rush and strange behavior.

"Will you tell me your name now that you have eaten, child?" he asked softly, trying not to frighten her.

She silently tilted her head to the side in question.

Mahad laughed softly, pointing to himself with a tan, slender finger. "My name is Mahad," he turned his finger towards her, "what is your name?"

The little girl was silent for a moment, her little brows furrowed as she studied both Mahad's face and finger. "M… Ma… Mah… Maha… Man… Mana…?"

Mahad's face lit up, a large smile spreading across his lips. "Mana! Your name is Mana!"

Mana blinked rapidly at his sudden outburst. What was he so excited over? She had just tried to attempt saying his name, but failed. It was his own fault for misinterpreting what she meant; but, then again, it was mostly her own fault for not being able to remember anything before this day…

Slowly, he settled back down from his excitement and handed her his drink in apology for his outburst, and she accepted without hesitation, gulping it down. He chuckled lightly, watching her little antics intently. The kids he was around were not as light-hearted as this Mana was, so he could not quite help himself to be entranced by the way she acted. The prince was already losing his childish behavior… Well, that was mostly because he had no other kid friends… Wait! What if Atem became friends with Mana, then he wouldn't be so lonely and stern! That's a brilliant idea!

"Are you tired, Mana?" he asked softly, watching as he eyes threatened to drift closed, confirming his suspicions.

"No…" she lied, rubbing her eyes.

He smiled and patted down her messy, brown hair. "Lair," he chuckled, "you can lay here and sleep for tonight. I will figure out another sleeping arrangement for you by tomorrow night…"

Reluctantly, she lies down on her bed, snuggling his soft pillow, and hummed softly as he tucked her into the blankets.

He pats her hair down once more before standing up from the rather large bed and leaving his chamber. It was the middle of the day, yes, but she had a rather long and stressful day, so she needed her rest. Right away, he headed towards the garden; Mahad was in search for someone in particular that he was nearly certain would be in the lavish garden. When he arrived, his eyes feverishly scanned the large area for the prince, who sat quietly by the silent water in the pond. "Prince Atem!"

Said person's head jerked up at the sound of his name, looking around feverishly when he didn't spot Mahad immediately; but when he did, he smiled lightly and stood, striding over to Mahad quickly. "Yes…? What is it, Mahad? Is something the matter…?"

"Not at all, my prince…! I just needed to ask a favor of you…"

Atem looked at him questioningly. "Of course… What is it that you need…?"

Mahad twiddled his fingers together nervously. "Well, you see… um… there is this girl…"

Suddenly, the prince began chuckling.

"N-no…! That's not what I meant! I mean, I found this little girl today… that is why I was attacking strangely this morning, by the way. As far as I know, she has no family. Her name is Mana, also… and, uh…"

"You want me to be her friend, correct?"

Mahad nodded meekly.

Atem smiles softly and nods. "She sounds nice. I cannot wait to meet her,"

The future priest sighed and returned his smile.**  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey! Welcome to chapter two! :) Not much to say, so...  
**

**Rated for later chapters.**

**I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Mana stared at the boy towering over her, her green eyes wide in amazement. "What's your name?"

Atem looked startled for a moment, but he then smiled. "It's polite to greet yourself first,"

She looked puzzled for a moment a looked over her shoulder at Mahad for guidance; he mouthed to say hello and then to tell him her own name first. Slowly, she nodded and turned to face the young prince, "Hello!" the greeting was loud and enthusiastic, just enough to make Atem physically jump, "My name is Mana! What is yours?"

He laughs lightly, and greets her back, "Nice to meet you, as well. My name is Atem,"

"Hi, Atem!" she looked around the large, lavish garden and all of its wonderment, then back to Atem with child-like curiousness shining in her eyes, "Will you be my friend, Atem?"

Sad person was slightly puzzled by the question, but he nodded and smiled all the same. "Of course!"

Her devious smile caught him off guard as she quickly grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards somewhere in the garden, "That means you have to play with me, then! Haha!"

"W-Whoa...! Slow d-down a bit, Mana...!"

Mahad chuckled and turned to return to his chambers to continue his studies.

* * *

"Mahad! Mahad! I found you! I found you!" Mana squealed as she ran in his study room.

He looked over his shoulder at her, smiling softly. "It seems you have," Mahad smoothed down her brown hair gently, her giggling and blushing ever so slightly; he turned around back to his papyrus. The shuffling of the little Mana was slightly relaxing at first, for it not to be silent for once, but after a minute or two, it got extremely irritating. "Mana..." he voice edged slightly.

"Eek...!" he heard her little feet slapping against the stone, giggling loudly.

Mahad sighed, rubbing his temples, but a light smile traced his lips.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey! Welcome to chapter three! :) Not much to say, so...  
**

**Warning: Hm... I don't wanna spoil it. :D  
**

**I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Mahad, after a lot of arguing, was able to get Mana a small, quaint room for her to sleep in; he was rather surprised she was able to sleep by herself. Well, up until this moment.

"Mahad..."

He sighs and rubs his eyes; Mahad peep open one, violet eye and look at the little girl's blackened silhouette in the grey shadows of his room. "Yes, Mana?"

"I-I'm... scared..."

"C'mere..." Mahad sat up and outstretched his arms, which she happily and quickly snuggled into; he laid his head upon hers, kissing the top of her head ever so slightly to comfort her slightly shaken form. "Tell me why you are scared..."

"... Do... I have to...?"

His lips twitched lightly. "Not if you do not want to,"

Mana took in a slow breath. "... It was dark- really, really dark. I-I... was alone and... There was laughter- cruel, cruel laughter. It-it... kept getting louder, and louder-"

"You can stop now, Mana," Mahad interjected quickly once her heard and felt her quivering against him.

"... Thank you," she whispered.

Slowly, they settled down onto the bed, Mana refusing to move from Mahad's side.

"Mana...?"

"Hm...?"

"Do you believe in magic...?"

"Of course!"

He was slightly surprised by this. "Really? Well, then, I have a surprise for you tomorrow..."

It was silent after that, and Mahad fell asleep not too long after their little conversation, but Mana could not fall asleep because of the nagging of the upcoming surprise. Mahad was going to be so angry with her.

* * *

Mahad laid out a piece of papyrus on the stone table, sitting down on his stool quickly; he looked over at Mana on her own stool, but her head was just barely above the table. Mahad laughed and stood up, grabbing a few stray blankets, lifting her up quickly and stuffed the blankets underneath her before quickly returning back to his stool.

"I cannot help that I'm short!"

"How old are you, anyway, Mana?"

"I'm ten, I think... You...?"

"Fourteen,"

They exchanged smiles at each other momentarily.

"Do you know how to read, Mana?" Mahad asked, studying her as she scanned over some of the scrolls of papyrus.

"A little, yes," Mana muttered, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration and frustration.

He smiled reassuringly, "I'll teach you later. Sound good...?"

She smiled brightly at him. "Yes!"

Mahad chuckled and nodded. After a few minutes of silence, he decided it was time to show her the surprise; slowly, he mentally began lifting the paper from her hands, and when she finally noticed, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Mana's eyes darted from the floating paper and towards Mahad, who was smiling amusingly at her. "H-how...?"

"I'm a magician in training, and a future priest for the prince," Mahad explains softly, laying the paper down on the table again.

"That's... amazing! Just... wow!" Mana exclaimed, eyes wide.

He chuckled. "You could say that," his eyes averted from hers for a second, "Would you like to learn, as well? I'm qualified to teach you and... well, I just have this feeling it is the right thing to do. I feel like... you're worthy..."

"R-really...?" Mana exclaimed, awed. "You could teach me to do magic?"

Mahad nods and smiles a little wider. "I could teach you more than just magic. You could be a priestess next to the pharaoh one day, Mana- if you try hard enough, of course."

"Really? You think so?" her face soundly darkened with disappointment. "But... I'm not from a high ranking family, Mahad. I do not even know my family..."

He gave her a reassuring smile and placed a hand on top of hers. "Like I said, if you work hard enough, you can accomplish it. I promise,"

Mana sighed and smiled, leaning over to give Mahad a kiss on the cheek, but this caught Mahad off guard and he quickly turned to see exactly what she was doing. This ended up with their lips on each other's.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :P I'm sorry they are so short, though. I'm working on making them longer. VERY slowly. CX And unsuccessfully.  
**

**Warning: Nothin'. :\  
**

**I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Chapter Four  
**

The pure shock kept them there, motionless. But, that soon wore off, and they both pulled away quickly, their faces red as beets.

"I-I-"

"No, I-I-"

They fell into a rather awkward silence for a little bit after that.

* * *

"My Pharaoh, please, allow me to teach this girl magic," Mahad pleaded, not daring to lift his face from the ground, "I believe she is worthy as much," he felt Mana's small hand tighten around his own.

"How do you think I would allow you to teach this young girl such a thing when I have not met her since now? I must, myself, deem her worthy of such an honor, especially when she does not even rank!"

"Y-yes, your highness," Mahad finally built up the courage to pick himself off the ground, but he did not look the Pharaoh's way; he turned towards Mana and, quite reluctantly, removed her hand from his own before leading her a little closer towards the Pharaoh and his thrown, the current Sacred Guardians watching intently and carefully for any signs of danger or treachery.

Slowly, Akunumkanon lifted himself from his lavish thrown and carefully walked towards the nervous child. "What is your name?" his loud voice boomed loudly through the thick silence.

"A-ah...! Uh... It-it's Mana, my Pharaoh..." she whispered meekly, trying not to look the large man in the eye. Atem was much less intimidating than his father... Mana fought the urge to squeal from surprise when the almighty ruler picked her up from under her frail arms, his dark violet eyes studying her with precision.

"Where do you originate?" he asks skeptically. "Surely you are from these lands. Your features tell this, obviously,"

Mana's eyes averted in disappointment with herself. "I... do not remember, sir..."

This caught everyone's attention, especially Mahad's, since he had not know about this.

Akunumkanon quickly looked towards Mahad with a puzzled look, "Did you know this...?"

"No, my Pharaoh, I had not,"

He then looks back towards Mana, his face ever so slightly disappointed, "Did you keep this from him, child?"

"N-No, my Pharaoh! It... was simply never brought up in conversation- I did not purposely keep it from him..." she quickly said. It was true, though.

Akunumkanon nods stiffly, humming quietly. "Atem has mentioned you to me, but only briefly. He says you are quite nice, fun, and caring," the violet-eyed man smiles, "He has taken quite a liking to you. I'm happy he has found a friend other than Mahad since Mahad has delved himself further into his studies,"

"Eh..." Poor Mana's face turned scarlet red from embarrassment, "That... was... um... kind, of him..."

Akunumkanon chuckled, setting the small girl back down on the stone. "Indeed it was," he agreed light-heartedly. He looked towards Mahad once more and smiled brighter, "Of course you have my permission, Mahad! I was just trying to scare you a bit," Akunumkanon laughed loudly, holding his sides from his own joke. "Now," he sighed, face slightly more serious as he looked between the two of the future priest and priestess, "Mahad, you bring her to supper tonight and let everyone get better acquainted with young Mana. Also," he turned to walk back to his throne, "begin tour teachings tomorrow morning."

Mahad took in a slowly, shaky breath before giving a quick, stiff nod in understanding then grabbing Mana's hand quickly and dragging her out of the throne room desperately.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :P Mothafuckin' time skip, bros. :] Mostly because I don't see any point in writing all of their 'childhood', in all honesty. It would be really pointless and I, or even you guys, might start to get bored with it (I know I would.).  
**

**Warning: Sexual themes. (Making up for no damn warning last chapter. CX) Also, slight Pleashipping and Vaseshipping. :\  
**

**I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Chapter Five  
**

The room would have been dead silent if it were not for the heavy pants coming from two individuals- two lovers; their breaths mixed in the the air, and the light sheen of sweat on their bodies mixed together. They never spoke after these events, as if they let it sink in for a few moments.

Mahad never understood this.

Was it not just sex? A stress reliever? He was not quite sure anymore; to him, that is what it started out as, and possibly still was, but what was it to her- to Isis? Was it just strictly sex? Was it lovemaking?

Honestly, he didn't care.

Mana was bailing most of her practices nowadays, so that left a giant time gap in his schedule; he had long ago finished training and was now one of Pharaoh Atem's Sacred Guardians and wielder of the Millennium Ring. This little hobby helped fill that gap, thankfully. He considered it a rather interesting way to fill boredom, as well...

Slowly, Mahad stood and regathered his clothes and pulled them back on; neither of them said anything at this time, either. It was just better to not say anything, they thought.

He left swiftly, not looking or saying anything to her; Mahad hurried to his room, feeling the need for silence for the remainder of the day, but when he got there, he knew he was not going to have silence for a while. "Mana..." he muttered bitterly, eying his bed like it was a divine pleasure, "I do not think now is the time..."

"Master! I-I'm... terribly sorry for missing practice today," Mana whispered, walking a little closer to him, noticing his exhaustion, but decided not to question it. "Atem would not let me leave his side and-"

"It is fine," Mahad cut in, making his way over to his bed and collapsing onto it. "Please, Mana, go get some rest and try to report to practice tomorrow,"

"I will, Master, I promise!"

"... Good,"

"Have a wonderful night, Master Mahad!"

"... You... too, Mana," he yawned/muttered into his fluffy pillow.

* * *

"Master...!"

Mahad groaned at the muffled sound of the ranking name being called. When was it that Mana woke up before himself? "What, Mana?"

"I'm reporting for my studies, sir!" he heard her chirp happily, almost _feeling_ her bright smile.

"Argh..." he groaned, forcefully lifting himself up from his bed. "Give me a few minutes to ready myself for the day, Mana, alright?"

Mahad heard Mana shuffle quickly over to him, the back of her hand pressing against his forehead, exclaiming, "Master Mahad! You are burning up! Never mind my studies, I can do them on my own for today! You must rest!"

He simply rolled his eyes and was about to argue with her, but, yes, he was feeling rather hot and a little uneasy. "I... guess you are correct..." he agreed reluctantly, but welcomed the seclusion of his bed once more, "I will rest for today,"

She sighs in approval and looked around the lavish priest's room for a moment. "I will stay here with you," Mana says suddenly, startling Mahad, since he had almost been asleep once more. "I do not want you to be sick by yourself!"

"Mana... don't,"

"Mahad... yes," She was mocking him. He could _fucking feel_ it.

He felt a shift on his bed and his lifted his head from the pillow, fighting to open an eye, and looked incredulously at Mana as she attempted to get under the blankets with Mahad. "M-Mana...! What are you doing!" he exclaimed.

"Well... I have heard that sleeping helps the body to recover faster, and I have also heard that if you are sleeping next to someone, you fall asleep faster or something," she moved a little closer to him, a small smile placed on her lips as a gentle, relaxed sigh escaped her lips. Mana buried her face into one of the pillows, giggling, "How long has it been since we slept in the same bed...?"

"It was the night of your eleventh birthday," Mahad said into his pillow, "You had another nightmare, if I remember correctly,"

She laughed softly, hugging her soft pillow. "You were the only one who cared for me like you did... I don't even think Atem comes close _now_,"

"I felt responsible for you- like your older brother or something," he paused a moment, "I was much like you, you know... I was abandoned, too... but I had my memories of my family, and they were not very fond ones..." Mahad turned on his side to face her, eyes soft, "and... in a way, I was jealous of you,"

"J-Jealous? Of me?" Mana exclaimed, pointing to herself, blue-green wide.

He nods, a small smile tracing his lips. "Yes," he confirmed, "but, your memories might have been fond ones, and so, I felt sorry for you, as well,"

Mana laughed nervously, rubbing her neck awkwardly. "I never knew that,"

"I guess there is a lot of things you do not know,"

"It would seem so,"

"Kind of like when it comes to your magic," Mahad joked, his tired smile looking more amused now.

She laughed and blushed, hitting his shoulder lightly. "I am trying to catch up!"

"I know," he says softly, understandingly, "I understand you and Atem like to spend time together..."

"Mahad..."

"I mean, your love for each other is quite obvious-"

"Mahad!"

He looked at her, eyes wide in surprise; then, in realizing of his rambling, he flushed crimson in embarrassment. "Excuse my ignorance..."

Mana giggled and touched his cheek playfully, her blue-green eyes shining with an unnamed emotion. "It is okay, Mahad... it's just..."

"It's just, what, Mana?" Mahad asked, head cocked to the side with curiosity. Was it just him, or was she leaning closer...?

"It's just that... I..." her lips were hovering over his and he was in complete disbelief the entire time. "Mahad, I-"

A knock on the door interrupted what Mana might have been about to confess, and he was slightly thankful for it, not knowing if he could handle a huge confession from her or not. _If _it was what she thought it was, anyways...

"I'll get it," she muttered bitterly, catching him by surprise. That was possibly the first time he had ever seen her irritated... He was also surprised how calm she seemed opening the door to reveal Isis standing there, looking awkward when seeing it was not Mahad himself who had not opened the door. "Good evening, Priestess Isis," Mana greeted happily, smiling her bright smile.

Isis smiled back rather weakly, eyes darting between Mahad and Mana swiftly before landing back on Mana once more. "Good evening, Mana. Tell me, now, what is the matter with Mahad?"

Mana's smile dropped a little as she glanced back at Mahad then looked back at Isis. "He is not feeling well, I'm afraid. His temperature is quite high," she paused a moment and repeated her previous action, "I convinced him to stay in bed for the day and I said that I'd keep him company to make him feel better,"

Isis nodded slowly and caught Mahad's gaze for a moment. "I see," she muttered, sighing, "Well, I will tell the Pharaoh of this so he does not stress over his absence," Isis did a small curtsy to the both of them and proceeded to leave.

Slowly, Mana shut the door back and turned towards Mahad, her head held down so he could not see her face. "Do you see the way she looks at you...?"

"Mana, what-"

"Tell me,"

"...Yes..."

"Do you return those looks, _Master_ Mahad?"

"Mana, that is none of your-"

"I just want to know!"

"And you do not need to go asking question you do not need to know!" He shock back, face red from anger; when he heard her small weeps, he sighed and rubbed his temples in slight annoyance, but ultimately felt guilt for yelling at her when he could have calmly talked to her like an adult, not an arrogant child. He sat up and opened his arms, muttering just loud enough for her to hear, "C'mere,"

Slowly, she made her way over to him, crawling into his lap and snuggled into his arms, sniffling softly. "I... I'm sorry, Mahad... I did not mean to intrude-"

"Hush, Mana," Mahad told her, his lips resting on the top of her hair for a second before he pulled back, "You are still a child, after all. It is not your fault,"

She was silent after that. Did Mahad still see her as a child? She was grown! Sure, she acted like a child at times, but that was simply her personality. Physically, she was grown, obviously; Mana figured Mahad had noticed long ago and was possibly restraining himself. She was sure Mahad did not return the beautiful priestess's feelings... At least, she hoped.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :P Not really much to say. I... had most of this chapter written on a piece of paper, then... I lost it in my 2nd Block. FUCK. MY. LIFFFFE.  
**

**Warning: Sexual themes and some language. (Making up for no damn warning last chapter. CX) Also, slight Pleashipping and Vaseshipping... AND Apprenticeshipping. ;O  
**

**I own nothing but the plot.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Mahad watched carefully as Atem and Mana walked around the gardens from the window of his studies; he had pulled her away from practice nearly thirty minutes ago to tell her something, but it has turned into an extremely long visit. This got irritating at times, to not be able to teach his own damned student and always have her taken away from him because the Pharaoh couldn't spend ten damned minutes away from his little lover. Mahad never felt like that with Isis, the need to always be around and with her…

He watched awkwardly as their fingers interlaced momentarily before falling back to their hips, as their shoulders always touched and never let there be any personal space between them. Honestly, he did not want to be rude and steal her away from Atem, but this was getting extremely annoying to the point where he wanted to… um, well , hit something, he guessed.

Swiftly, he stood from his chair and walked towards the couple, smiling softly at the both of them when they stopped once they had noticed him coming. "Please, my Pharaoh, I need to steal Mana away from you for the rest of the evening. She is _quite_ behind on her studies and practices and needs to catch up by the next two days…"

Atem smiled right back, not looking fazed at all. "Of course…! I did not mean to intrude and all, so, please, carry on!" he turned towards Mana and smiled gently at her, crimson eyes soft before he finally left.

Mahad turned and began walking toward the study again, rubbing his temple while muttering, "This is getting to be ridiculous,"

Mana walked a little bit faster so she was nearly walking beside him. "Master Mahad, are you alright? Are you still sick-"

"I'm fine, Mana. Let's just get to work," he interjected, obviously annoyed and not in the mood for her questions.

Mana sunk behind him, no longer attempting to be beside him anymore.

"You've done well, Mana. I am finally proud to call you one of my best students," Mahad said softly, watching as her face lit up.

"Really…! Oh, wow…" she breathed in disbelief. "I really worked hard this week… to make it up to you, Master Mahad…"

"And I'm proud of you! Now…" he paused, watching her face carefully in the dimly lit room, "what brought this own, really? I know you, Mana. You would not work so hard _just_ to make up your lack of effort in your studies to me."

Mana looked baffled for a moment before she let her head sink in disappointment. "I just… I don't know, Master Mahad…"

Mahad placed a hand on her shoulder lightly, grabbing her chin softly to make her look up at him. "Come on now, Mana… you can tell me,"

"Mahad, I-"

"Hello, hello-"

They both turned to see Atem standing there, face shocked. "Well-hell-hell then! Looks like I'm interrupting your 'studies' one more," he bowed in fake apology, "Forgive me."

Mahad felt extremely awkward while Mana laughed and stood, but Mahad could tell her was angry by how tense her muscles were in her body.

"It's okay, Atem! We finished up nearly and hour ago and we just decided to talk and whatnot," Mana explained, smiling tightly before adding, "I'm yours for the rest of the night."

Atem blinked for a moment before he smiled and grabbed her hand into his, waving to Mahad before dragging his little lover away; and for a slit-second, Mahad saw her torn face, leaving him there, paralyzed.

* * *

What was this? His third- his fourth? He was not quite sure anymore...

"Maybe you should stop," Isis muttered, eyes staying focused on the party in front of them.

He paused a moment, staring into his glass before muttering back over the music and voices of the party, "I will take it into consideration," Mahad gulped the rest down hurriedly.

He always hated these parties.

The reason why he hated these parties was unknown to him; really, for as long as he had lived inside the palace and attended the parties, Mahad never found a liking to them. Maybe it was the loud, booming voices and stuffy air or the reeking of alcohol and sex...? Mahad chuckled to himself, refilling his drink. Heh... how ironic.

His mind was becoming more hazy and dazed by the second and he barely caught Isis leaving through his foggy state. It was rare if he drank and got drunk, especially _this_ drunk, too. So, to possibly keep a little pride while his still had a little reason left, Mahad began to stumble out of the room through the hordes of drunk, and possibly aroused, people. He wasn't even a few meters out of the room before he felt something, or _someone_ cling to his arm and begin leading him. "Huh...?" Yes, that was really the only thing that could fumble its way out of his mouth without sounding like drunken, incoherent words.

"Shh, Master," he heard that little familiar, timid voice shush him, "I've got you. Don't want you losing your way to your room now, do we?" Mahad could almost feel her little smile at her own little joke.

"M..." Mahad blinked a few time, trying to regain his train of thought... which did not seem to be coming back anytime soon from the looks of it.

Mana was a little tipsy herself, but she was in a much better state of mind than her master.

Mahad, once again, attempted to talk back, but ultimately failed once again; he swore he fell asleep during some point of their little trip, since when he finally was able to recall memory, hr was welcomed to the silvery blackness of his room. Obviously, it was still the middle of night, so he had not been asleep that long. Mahad groaned and attempted to stretch his aching limbs, but froze in place when something, or _someone_, held his arms in place by his side. "Wha...?

"Shh..." he heard someone say beside him, snuggling closer to him to reassure and comfort him. "Don't move, either; you don't want the headache to begin already, do you?"

"Mana... wha...?" At least he had been able to make an coherent sentence.

Mana paused a moment before she spoke, "I was afraid to let you walk to your room by yourself, considering how drunk you were, and all,"

Mahad only nodded in silent understanding. It was, again, very rare for him to drink, especially that much. But, you know how it is. People often over do it.

He felt her shuffle and push herself upward so that her face was equal to his. Her wine-flavored breath mixed in the air with his own- hot and intoxicating.

Gods... How much longer would he be able to contain his feelings?


End file.
